Bedard scores 1st NHL hat trick, Blackhawks stay hot with win against Senators

CHICAGO – Connor Bedard scored his first NHL hat trick and had an assist to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 7-3 victory against the Ottawa Senators at United Center on Tuesday.

"It's nice," Bedard said. "Just our whole team celebrates each other in moments like that. And the fans' reaction was awesome. We have so much support. Obviously, you want to get a hatty anywhere, but to get one at home is nice, and to have that support is unbelievable."

Defenseman Louis Crevier had a goal and an assist, Andre Burakovsky and Nick Foligno each had two assists, and Spencer Knight made 21 saves for the Blackhawks (5-3-2), who are 5-1-1 in their past seven games.

Tim Stutzle had a goal and an assist, and Drake Batherson had two assists for the Senators (5-5-1), who were playing the second game of a back-to-back after a 7-2 win against the Boston Bruins on Monday. Linus Ullmark made 19 saves.

“Unfortunately, a little bit of immaturity today,” Ullmark said. “It’s not easy winning in this league. You can’t go out there and put up seven two (games) in a row (also in a 7-1 win at the Washington Capitals on Saturday) and expect to do it a third time.

“There’s a skill playing in back-to-backs, especially in the second game. It’s really tough, especially when you’re doing the travel, as well. There’s a lot of things today I think we could have done better. We just have to look at ourselves in the mirror and come to terms with what we did, learn from it and move on.”

Colton Dach scored his first goal of the season to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 6:47 of the first period. He picked up the rebound of a shot from the right point by Crevier and scored from the bottom of the left face-off circle.

Crevier then made it 2-0 at 12:06. He picked up the puck along the boards outside the right circle and one-timed the puck, which deflected into the net off the leg of Senators defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo.

Bedard extended the lead to 3-0 with a power-play goal at 17:53. Burakovsky skated to the goal line from the left point and made a cross-ice pass to Bedard, who scored with a wrist shot from the right circle.

“I thought it was huge, especially with the time of the game,” Bedard said. “We talked about them coming off a back-to-back last game, and if we get one of those power plays, maybe they don't quit, but they feel it a little more. That was the importance of that 3-0 goal.”

Bedard put the Blackhawks ahead 4-0 at 2:58 of the second period. He moved into the offensive zone, made a toe-drag move and scored with a wrist shot from the slot.

Jake Sanderson got the Senators on the board at 4:58 with a shot from the blue line that caromed off the end boards and went in off Knight.

Michael Amadio cut the lead to 4-2 at 7:09 when he skated out from behind the net and lifted the puck over Knight.

“When I came around the net I saw some time and space,” Amadio said. “I just took it to the net. I’m not even sure where it went in.”

Stutzle then got the Senators to within 4-3 at 8:31 when he moved into the offensive zone and scored glove side with a wrist shot from the right circle. The Blackhawks challenged the play for offside, but it call was upheld after a video review, resulting in a delay of game penalty.

However, Chicago killed off the penalty, and Bedard completed the hat trick at 3:46 of the third period to make it 5-3. Ryan Greene won a face-off, and Bedard picked up the puck and put it in with a snap shot from the left circle.

“I think Connor’s had a great start to the year,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said. “He’s done so many things the right way. He’s defending hard, he’s stopping on pucks, he’s doing a lot of things that create, that are winning hockey habits.”

Ryan Donato scored from the slot at 8:24 to make it 6-3, and Frank Nazar scored short-handed into an empty net at 12:44 for the 7-3 final.

“At the beginning of the game we talked about we needed to be ready to start the game,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said. “I didn’t think we were sharp, I didn’t think we had our skating legs. I do like that we found our game, pushed back in the second period, had a great chance to tie it. We got what we deserved tonight.”

NOTES: Ullmark played in his 300th NHL game. … With the secondary assist on Dach’s goal, Foligno recorded his 600th NHL point. … Blackhawks forward Ilya Mikheyev missed the game because of an upper-body injury he sustained in a 3-1 loss against Los Angeles on Oct. 26. He will travel with the team for its six-game road trip that begins at Winnipeg on Thursday. … Bedard recorded his third career four-point game, tying Jeremy Roenick for the third-most by a Blackhawks player before the age of 21. Only Denis Savard (4) and Bobby Hull (5) had more.